ÇANAKKALE ARAŞTIRMALARI TÜRK YILLIĞI Yıl 15 Güz 2017 Sayı 23 Ss
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ÇANAKKALE ARAŞTIRMALARI TÜRK YILLIĞI Yıl 15 Güz 2017 Sayı 23 ss. 247-264 Geliş Tarihi: 11.10.2017 Kabul Tarihi: 18.10.2017 On the Fate of Ottoman Cultural Properties during the Gallipoli Campaign Turan TAKAOĞLU* Mithat ATABAY** Öz Bu çalışma Birinci Dünya Savaşı sırasında Çanakkale Savaşı esnasında İtilaf devletleri askeri güçlerinin Çanakkale Boğazının Trakya ve Anadolu kısımlarında kalan topraklarında bulunan askeri nitelik taşımayan mimari yapılar üzerinde yaptığı tahribatın boyutlarını irdelemeyi amaçlar. Savaş ve uyuşmazlık zamanlarında kimlik, inanç ve ortak hafıza gibi milli kimliği temsil eden kültür varlıkları veya sivil ve mimari öğeler düşman güçler tarafından çoğu zaman hep bilerek hedef alındığı durumlar olmuştur. Kale ve benzeri askeri yapılar savaş zamanında canlı hedefler olduğundan dolayı savaş gemileri ve uçakların her zaman hedefleri doğru bir şekilde vuramadığından dolayı söz konusu askeri yapılar etrafında bulunan yapılara kasti olmayan hasarlar da verilmiş olduğu durumlar vardır. Ancak, 1915 yılına ait bazı tarihi Osmanlı belgeleri Çanakkale Savaşı sırasında İtilaf devletlerinin havadan veya denizden yaptığı bombardımanlar sonucu bazı askeri karakteri olmayan Osmanlı kültür varlıklarının belirli oranda tahrip olduğu ve hatta bu tahribatların bazılarının gereksiz yere bilinçli olarak yapıldığı dikkat çeker. Bunun sonucu olarak Çanakkale Savaşı sırasında ve hemen öncesinde askeri yapıları barındıran ve Çanakkale Boğazı’nın güney kıyısı yerleşimlerinden Çanakkale (Çanak, Kale-i Sultaniye), Erenköy ve Kumkale gibi yerleşimler yanında Gelibolu Yarımadası’nda bulunan Seddülbahir ve Bolayır konumları gereği sivil ve dini mimarilerinde tahribat yaşamışlardır. Gelibolu Yarımadası bünyesinde stratejik konumlarda bulunan Maydos ve Krtihia köyleri de İtilaf devletlerinin hedef haline geldiğinden buralarda bulunan bazı sivil ve dini mimari yapılarda tahribat yaşanmıştır. Osmanlı kültür mirasının korunmasına yönelik Türklerce alınan bazı önlemlerin de olması da bu bağlamda dikkat çekici bir durumdur. Tarihi belgelerin fotoğrafik belgeler ışığında irdelenmesi İtilaf Devletleri güçlerinin iyi hesaplanmamış olan ve askeri nitelikte olmayan bir çok yapıda tahribata neden olan deniz ve hava saldırılarının Çanakkale Savaşı sırasında insaniyete ve imza atılan * Turan TAKAOĞLU, Prof. Dr., Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Department of Archaeology, e-mail: [email protected] ** Mithat ATABAY, Yrd. Doç. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Department of History, e-mail: [email protected] 247 Turan Takaoğlu & Mithat Atabay uluslararası antlaşmalara aykırı bir biçimde ölçülerin ötesine geçtiğini düşündürür. Anahtar Kelimeler: Çanakkale Savaşı, 1915, sivil ve dini mimari, tahribat, bombardıman Abstract This paper aims to evaluate the extent of damage caused to Ottoman cultural properties by the Allied forces during the Gallipoli Campaign, which took place during the First World War both on the Thracian and Asian sides of the Dardanelles. In times of war or armed conflict, cultural properties representing the identity, faith, and shared values that help to reinforce a sense of national identity often become inadvertent targets by opposing forces. There might have been cases in which Ottoman cultural properties located around military such as fortresses and artilleries that were viable targets in wartime were damaged unintentionally. However, certain Ottoman historical sources dating to 1915 seemingly attest to deliberate destruction of Ottoman buildings of non-military character by bombardments from the battleships and aircraft of the Allied Forces. As a result, certain Ottoman civilian and religious structures located around the military installations at Çanakkale (Chanak, Kale-i Sultaniye), Erenköy, and Kumkale on the southern shores of the Dardanelles as well as Seddülbahir and Bolayır on the Gallipoli Peninsula witnessed damage because of their location. Such villages as Maydos and Krithia located at strategic locations in the Gallipoli Peninsula also became targets of the Allied forces. This paper in this context aims to determine the degree to which Ottoman cultural properties were affected by direct and indirect gun-fire and bombardment during the Gallipoli Campaign. In addition, several examples of Turkish efforts to protect the cultural properties from being harmed by bombardment from the Anglo-French Allies are also briefly outlined here. The evaluation of historical sources in relation to photographic data demonstrates that the naval and aerial assaults resulting in the damage to the Ottoman cultural properties were beyond the limits during the Gallipoli Campaign, which could not be explained in human terms and international conventions. Key words: Gallipoli Campaign, 1915, non-military structures, damage, bombardment 248 On the Fate of Ottoman Cultural Properties during the Gallipoli Campaign The Gallipoli Campaign that took place between 25th April 1915 and 9th Janu- ary 1916 was undoubtedly one of the most heroic battles ever fought by the Turks as it was a unexpected military disaster with heavy casualties to the Allied Forces who intended both to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war and to re-open the sea route between Europe and Russia by seizing Constantinople during the First World War. Turkish casualties were also enormous, exceeding the Allies in number. The Gallipoli Campaign was first initiated with naval operations and raiding parties by Anglo-French ships in the months of February and March 1915 on both sides of the Dardanelles Strait, followed by a full-scale landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula by British and French troops including the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) on April 25. The last naval attempt to force a passage up the Dardanelles on March 18 had ended with the sinking of three battleships of the Al- lied Forces, while the land operations that succeeded the naval failure, beginning on April 25, also did not favor of the British, French and ANZAC troops, who met fierce opposition. The purpose of this military operation was basically to assist the fleet in forcing the Dardanelles strait by taking from the rear the Ottoman fortresses located on the European side of the Strait and to obtain a vantage point from which fortresses on the Asiatic side could be dominated. Despite the fact that the Gallipoli Campaign ended with heavy casualties on both sides, the most important outcome of the war was the sense of collective consciousness and patriotism that it created among the Turks at the onset of the creation of the modern Turkish Republic. The Gallipoli Campaign also became a national narrative for Australia and New Zealand (Sagona et al. 2016). Although the literature on various aspects of this historical event yearly incre- ases, the long-neglected issue of how the buildings of non-military character of the Ottoman Empire around the Dardanelles were affected by this campaign has unfortu- nately not been examined. A work by Ahmet Esenkaya (2004) represents the first th- rough study of the inhumane acts that were committed by the Allied Forces during the Gallipoli Campaign despite that fact that they were among the signatory countries of the international conventions related to the times of war. This valuable work, bringing together information derived from a series of documents from the Ottoman archives, Ottoman newspapers, and the accounts of Ottoman military officers, demonstrates that the Allied forces carelessly assaulted the locations that had no military character at all both during and at the onset of the Gallipoli Campaign for some reasons. This paper in this context aims to examine the extent of damage caused to Ot- toman non-military buildings by the Allied forces during the Gallipoli Campaign. The Gallipoli Campaign indeed witnessed damage to numerous Ottoman non-military structures by aerial and naval bombardments, despite fact that the Ottoman Empire was one of the signatories of three different Hague conventions signed in 1899 and 1907 along with Britain and France. The earliest Article 27 of the Hague Convention 249 Turan Takaoğlu & Mithat Atabay signed on 29 July 1899. This article rules that 1: “In sieges and bombardments all ne- cessary steps should be taken to spare as far as possible edifices devoted to religion, art, science, and charity … provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes. It is the duty of the besieged to indicate the presence of such buildings or places by distinctive and visible signs, which shall be notified to the enemy before- hand.” Article 27 of the Hague convention (IV) signed on 18th October in 1907 added historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected.2 Most important of all, Article 5 of the 1907 Hague Convention (IX) concerning Bombardment by Naval Forces in Times of War provides that 3: In bombardments by naval forces all the necessary measures must be taken by the commander to spare as far as possible sacred edifices, buildings used for artistic, scientific or charitable purposes, … on the understanding that they are not used at the same time for military purposes. It is the duty of the inhabitants to indicate such monuments, edifices or places by visible signs, which shall consist of large, stiff rectangular panels divided diagonally into two colored triangular portions, the upper portion black, the lower portion white. The stripes observed on the minarets of several mosques located on both sides of the Dardanelles Strait, including Çanakkale town and the village of Ki-